While not a student of mine, a contributor of two of the catalog entries is connected with Notre ... more While not a student of mine, a contributor of two of the catalog entries is connected with Notre Dame through her spouse and is teaching art history at another university here in South Bend. Finally, seven recent undergraduate students of mine at Notre Dame have contributed part or all of a single entry. 3 The following are the contributing authors of the catalog.
Mountains dominate the Greek landscape, recognized as sacred places from the Bronze Age on, inspi... more Mountains dominate the Greek landscape, recognized as sacred places from the Bronze Age on, inspiring the dedication of sanctuaries on their summits. Both the archaeological and literary records preserve evidence of cult activity on mountaintops, offering insight into the religious practices that took place in these sanctuaries. Even so, with the exception of the Minoan peak sanctuaries on Crete, little attention has been devoted to the study of mountaintop sites elsewhere in Greece, and to their specific role in Greek religion and society. Using the archaeological and literary evidence, this dissertation explores the topographic and religious significance of mountaintop sanctuaries in ancient Greece, and the consequent patterns of ritual activity. This study is organized into five chapters and a site catalog. A summary of the Minoan peak sanctuaries on Crete is presented first, followed by an examination of the perception of mountains and mountaintop sanctuaries in Greek religion and society. Turning to the individual sanctuaries, an outline of the sites included in the catalog precedes a more detailed examination of mountaintop sanctuary features and the ritual and social activities with which they were associated, including altars and sacrifices, votive offerings, drinking and dining, festivals and athletic competitions, and temple building. The final chapter focuses on the relationship between topography and sacrificial practices. The archaeological evidence for the existence of cult activity on mountaintops is often limited to the remains of burnt sacrifice, represented by a deposit, sometimes extensive, of ash and burned animal bone fragments mixed with pottery and votive objects. Although many Greek sanctuaries eventually marked places of sacrifice with a stone-built altar, in the case of mountaintop sanctuaries, the accumulated remains of repeated animal sacrifice alone frequently formed a permanent feature in the sanctuary. Literary sources support a conclusion that such "ash altars", while not a feature of all Greek mountaintop sanctuaries, were associated predominantly with ritual activity on mountaintops. Overall, this dissertation is intended to serve a broad purpose, as a comprehensive compilation of the available archaeological and literary material related to these sites, and as a resource for the future study of mountaintop sanctuaries. institutions. I thank first of all my advisor, William A.P. Childs, who has supported me for the entire length of this project. For the inspiration behind my dissertation, I am forever indebted to Robin Rhodes for taking me to the summit of Mt. Phoukas (ancient Apesas) during my very first summer in Greece, and to David Romano and Mary Voyatzis for welcoming me with such enthusiasm to the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project. I was extremely fortunate to be one of the excavators of the ash altar of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion, and owe much to the guidance of Art Rhon and Ethne Barnes, as well as to the assistance of my co-supervisor Dan Diffendale, and to the contributions of all of the members of the altar crew over the excavations. Much of the research for my dissertation was completed during three years spent in Greece at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. I am grateful to the American School for providing me with the Lucy Shoe Meritt and Gorham Phillips Stevens fellowships for two of these years. During this time I had the exceptional opportunity to climb Mt. Oros on Aegina with Hans Goette, and to hike for miles and miles up, over, and around Mt. Hymettos with Merle Langdon, who also provided me with an invaluable compilation of mountain-related deities and cults from his own personal research. I also had the chance to study the material collected by the Nemea Valley Archaeological Project from the ash altar of Zeus on Mt. Phoukas. I am grateful to Jack Davis for providing me with access to the records of the project, and for his help in obtaining permits to study the material. To Chris Stackowicz and Phil Sapirstein I owe many, many thanks for accompanying me on my search for mountaintop sanctuaries, and especially for their incredible driving and navigation skills. I have benefited greatly from the thought-provoking discussions offered by the graduate courses I took at Princeton-particularly those of my advisor and of T.L. Shear. I thank Michael Padgett as well for encouraging my interest in curatorial work and museum studies. I offer warm thanks to Dimitri Gondicas for his support both in Princeton and in Greece. My research and travels would not have been possible without the support of the Department of Art and Archaeology, the Program in Hellenic Studies, and the Program in the Ancient World. I would also like to recognize Diane Schulte for all of her help over the years in making the seemingly impossible possible. I owe special thanks to those who have provided non-academic support. There are no words to express my gratitude for my friends and family. Above all, I thank my parents and my sisters, Andrea and Meredith, for their continuing confidence in me. The graduate students at Princeton were wonderfully supportive. My time in Athens would not have been the same without Judy Barringer and Pandora (and all of the other cats of Greece). And I would not have survived the last few years of writing without the friendship and food offerings of Emma Ljung and Bob Scogna. Finally, I thank the many people who directed me to possible mountaintop sites that they encountered in their own research or fieldwork. Without them I would never have discovered so many. v
Mavriki-see Psili Korphi Oros-see Panhellenion Phoukas-see Apesas Pron-see Kokkygion Sounion-see ... more Mavriki-see Psili Korphi Oros-see Panhellenion Phoukas-see Apesas Pron-see Kokkygion Sounion-see Profitis Elias near Sounion Taleton-see Taygetos Velvina-see Profitis Elias near Velvina viii ABBREVIATIONS BMC Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum CIG Corpus inscriptionum graecarum CIL Corpus inscriptionum latinarum SITE NAME ACROCORINTH CAT. NO. 1 REGION CORINTHIA ELEVATION 574M LOCATION MAP 2 FEATURES Summit: temple, sacred spring
The stag played an important role in the religious landscape of Anatolia from the Bronze Age onwa... more The stag played an important role in the religious landscape of Anatolia from the Bronze Age onward. The Hittites and subsequent Iron Age populations represented the principal deity associated with this sacred animal, the Stag-God, as a male figure standing on the back of a stag. Aspects of the Stag-God’s iconography persist into the Roman period in the form of small bronze votive statuettes with an eagle perched either on the back or head of a stag. Although traditionally interpreted as a dual symbol of the Roman gods Jupiter Dolichenus and Juno Dolichena, a reexamination of the literary and material evidence indicates that the iconography more likely derives from visual traditions associated with a local Anatolian deity or deities. Using the bronze statuettes as a starting point, this paper reconsiders the long history of this enigmatic motif, and the ways in which it was reinterpreted in a Roman context.
Mountains played an important role in the religious landscape of ancient Anatolia. They were sacr... more Mountains played an important role in the religious landscape of ancient Anatolia. They were sacred to the gods and worshipped as di- vine beings themselves. The Hittites and subsequent Iron Age populations recorded offerings made in honor of divine mountains, and carved rock monuments of composite mountain-gods with a lower body in the form of a mountain and upper body of a man. Examples of such reliefs are scattered across the Anatolian landscape. One especially numinous peak, Mt. Argaios in Cappadocia, continued to inspire such beliefs even in Helle- nistic and Roman times. Although the nature of the cult of Argaios in this period is unclear, and there is no evidence for any sort of continuity of cult, texts and iconography suggest the survival of much earlier ideas about the religious aspects of mountains. Using a combination of literary and mate- rial remains, this paper examines how the divine nature of Argaios and its god or gods persisted in the cultural memory of Anatolia throughout the first millennium BC, and the ways in which they were reinterpreted in the context of Classical tradition.
This article discusses three joining fragments of an Urartian bronze belt in the collection of th... more This article discusses three joining fragments of an Urartian bronze belt in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, an outlier in the museum’s predominantly Greco-Roman holdings. Based on its composition and style, the belt probably dates to the second half of the eighth century bce. The iconography includes images of the “Parthian shot,” in which a mounted archer turns in the saddle to fire behind him. Although associated with the Parthians (ca. 247 bce–224 CE), it is clear that this tactic originated in Urartu in the ninth century BCE and was depicted in Assyrian, Urartian, Phoenician, Greek, and Persian art prior to the foundation of the Parthian Empire.
While not a student of mine, a contributor of two of the catalog entries is connected with Notre ... more While not a student of mine, a contributor of two of the catalog entries is connected with Notre Dame through her spouse and is teaching art history at another university here in South Bend. Finally, seven recent undergraduate students of mine at Notre Dame have contributed part or all of a single entry. 3 The following are the contributing authors of the catalog.
Mountains dominate the Greek landscape, recognized as sacred places from the Bronze Age on, inspi... more Mountains dominate the Greek landscape, recognized as sacred places from the Bronze Age on, inspiring the dedication of sanctuaries on their summits. Both the archaeological and literary records preserve evidence of cult activity on mountaintops, offering insight into the religious practices that took place in these sanctuaries. Even so, with the exception of the Minoan peak sanctuaries on Crete, little attention has been devoted to the study of mountaintop sites elsewhere in Greece, and to their specific role in Greek religion and society. Using the archaeological and literary evidence, this dissertation explores the topographic and religious significance of mountaintop sanctuaries in ancient Greece, and the consequent patterns of ritual activity. This study is organized into five chapters and a site catalog. A summary of the Minoan peak sanctuaries on Crete is presented first, followed by an examination of the perception of mountains and mountaintop sanctuaries in Greek religion and society. Turning to the individual sanctuaries, an outline of the sites included in the catalog precedes a more detailed examination of mountaintop sanctuary features and the ritual and social activities with which they were associated, including altars and sacrifices, votive offerings, drinking and dining, festivals and athletic competitions, and temple building. The final chapter focuses on the relationship between topography and sacrificial practices. The archaeological evidence for the existence of cult activity on mountaintops is often limited to the remains of burnt sacrifice, represented by a deposit, sometimes extensive, of ash and burned animal bone fragments mixed with pottery and votive objects. Although many Greek sanctuaries eventually marked places of sacrifice with a stone-built altar, in the case of mountaintop sanctuaries, the accumulated remains of repeated animal sacrifice alone frequently formed a permanent feature in the sanctuary. Literary sources support a conclusion that such "ash altars", while not a feature of all Greek mountaintop sanctuaries, were associated predominantly with ritual activity on mountaintops. Overall, this dissertation is intended to serve a broad purpose, as a comprehensive compilation of the available archaeological and literary material related to these sites, and as a resource for the future study of mountaintop sanctuaries. institutions. I thank first of all my advisor, William A.P. Childs, who has supported me for the entire length of this project. For the inspiration behind my dissertation, I am forever indebted to Robin Rhodes for taking me to the summit of Mt. Phoukas (ancient Apesas) during my very first summer in Greece, and to David Romano and Mary Voyatzis for welcoming me with such enthusiasm to the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project. I was extremely fortunate to be one of the excavators of the ash altar of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion, and owe much to the guidance of Art Rhon and Ethne Barnes, as well as to the assistance of my co-supervisor Dan Diffendale, and to the contributions of all of the members of the altar crew over the excavations. Much of the research for my dissertation was completed during three years spent in Greece at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. I am grateful to the American School for providing me with the Lucy Shoe Meritt and Gorham Phillips Stevens fellowships for two of these years. During this time I had the exceptional opportunity to climb Mt. Oros on Aegina with Hans Goette, and to hike for miles and miles up, over, and around Mt. Hymettos with Merle Langdon, who also provided me with an invaluable compilation of mountain-related deities and cults from his own personal research. I also had the chance to study the material collected by the Nemea Valley Archaeological Project from the ash altar of Zeus on Mt. Phoukas. I am grateful to Jack Davis for providing me with access to the records of the project, and for his help in obtaining permits to study the material. To Chris Stackowicz and Phil Sapirstein I owe many, many thanks for accompanying me on my search for mountaintop sanctuaries, and especially for their incredible driving and navigation skills. I have benefited greatly from the thought-provoking discussions offered by the graduate courses I took at Princeton-particularly those of my advisor and of T.L. Shear. I thank Michael Padgett as well for encouraging my interest in curatorial work and museum studies. I offer warm thanks to Dimitri Gondicas for his support both in Princeton and in Greece. My research and travels would not have been possible without the support of the Department of Art and Archaeology, the Program in Hellenic Studies, and the Program in the Ancient World. I would also like to recognize Diane Schulte for all of her help over the years in making the seemingly impossible possible. I owe special thanks to those who have provided non-academic support. There are no words to express my gratitude for my friends and family. Above all, I thank my parents and my sisters, Andrea and Meredith, for their continuing confidence in me. The graduate students at Princeton were wonderfully supportive. My time in Athens would not have been the same without Judy Barringer and Pandora (and all of the other cats of Greece). And I would not have survived the last few years of writing without the friendship and food offerings of Emma Ljung and Bob Scogna. Finally, I thank the many people who directed me to possible mountaintop sites that they encountered in their own research or fieldwork. Without them I would never have discovered so many. v
Mavriki-see Psili Korphi Oros-see Panhellenion Phoukas-see Apesas Pron-see Kokkygion Sounion-see ... more Mavriki-see Psili Korphi Oros-see Panhellenion Phoukas-see Apesas Pron-see Kokkygion Sounion-see Profitis Elias near Sounion Taleton-see Taygetos Velvina-see Profitis Elias near Velvina viii ABBREVIATIONS BMC Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum CIG Corpus inscriptionum graecarum CIL Corpus inscriptionum latinarum SITE NAME ACROCORINTH CAT. NO. 1 REGION CORINTHIA ELEVATION 574M LOCATION MAP 2 FEATURES Summit: temple, sacred spring
The stag played an important role in the religious landscape of Anatolia from the Bronze Age onwa... more The stag played an important role in the religious landscape of Anatolia from the Bronze Age onward. The Hittites and subsequent Iron Age populations represented the principal deity associated with this sacred animal, the Stag-God, as a male figure standing on the back of a stag. Aspects of the Stag-God’s iconography persist into the Roman period in the form of small bronze votive statuettes with an eagle perched either on the back or head of a stag. Although traditionally interpreted as a dual symbol of the Roman gods Jupiter Dolichenus and Juno Dolichena, a reexamination of the literary and material evidence indicates that the iconography more likely derives from visual traditions associated with a local Anatolian deity or deities. Using the bronze statuettes as a starting point, this paper reconsiders the long history of this enigmatic motif, and the ways in which it was reinterpreted in a Roman context.
Mountains played an important role in the religious landscape of ancient Anatolia. They were sacr... more Mountains played an important role in the religious landscape of ancient Anatolia. They were sacred to the gods and worshipped as di- vine beings themselves. The Hittites and subsequent Iron Age populations recorded offerings made in honor of divine mountains, and carved rock monuments of composite mountain-gods with a lower body in the form of a mountain and upper body of a man. Examples of such reliefs are scattered across the Anatolian landscape. One especially numinous peak, Mt. Argaios in Cappadocia, continued to inspire such beliefs even in Helle- nistic and Roman times. Although the nature of the cult of Argaios in this period is unclear, and there is no evidence for any sort of continuity of cult, texts and iconography suggest the survival of much earlier ideas about the religious aspects of mountains. Using a combination of literary and mate- rial remains, this paper examines how the divine nature of Argaios and its god or gods persisted in the cultural memory of Anatolia throughout the first millennium BC, and the ways in which they were reinterpreted in the context of Classical tradition.
This article discusses three joining fragments of an Urartian bronze belt in the collection of th... more This article discusses three joining fragments of an Urartian bronze belt in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, an outlier in the museum’s predominantly Greco-Roman holdings. Based on its composition and style, the belt probably dates to the second half of the eighth century bce. The iconography includes images of the “Parthian shot,” in which a mounted archer turns in the saddle to fire behind him. Although associated with the Parthians (ca. 247 bce–224 CE), it is clear that this tactic originated in Urartu in the ninth century BCE and was depicted in Assyrian, Urartian, Phoenician, Greek, and Persian art prior to the foundation of the Parthian Empire.
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